Hi all:

MiniKJ signing in. I only have my ride for a very short time and have been reading about changing oil @ 5K instead waiting for 9k as indicated. I have concern about voiding warranty or the maint. coverage. If I do my own oil change at 5k without messing with any computer reset, just oil and filter. Will that void any of the factory coverage if dealer notice that? Is it better to pay dealer for that extra oil change and ask not to reset the service counter? Thanks for your advise.

 

They wont be able to tell if you changed our own oil. If you have any major concerns just take it to the dealership and get it changed. They will charge you around 60 bucks but its worth it as you will see how fast the oil gets black. good luck!

 

changing it before it tells you too. Waste of money. It's engineered to take it to 10k(not9k) and will do so with no problems. When you first turn on the car it shows you how many miles till your oil change.

If you want to change it early it won't void your warranty as long as you do it properly. And like the other person said you can have Mini do it. It's not necessary though.

 

I'd like to point out that the fact that your MINI will run OK using 10,000 mile oil changes means nothing in the related, but different, discussion about whether more frequent oil changes are beneficial.

There is no car that I am aware oil that will have problems or, "not run right", solely from 10,000 mile oil changes. The discussion is about long-term wear, and, as much as anything, the personal satisfaction of having fresh, clean appearing oil in your baby.

The dealer will never know you changed the oil at 5,000 miles....if you feel better with that, do it.

 

It's really not either. The countdown is based on fuel consumption, the more fuel you use the faster it will count down. I've seen them due at 8K, and then I've seen them due at 11K. As far as doing them your self, I have but the gasket in the filter canister can be tricky if not seated properly. If you aren't really comfortable with that take it in.

 

fwiw, i was following what the computer says...but my car's at 20k miles
and shows another 8k miles to service which is too far...(last changed
in late 04, i only put about 8k miles/yr or less) so im taking her in after
the snow's gone possibly run the 25k mile inspection if they would agree
to do it "early" at 20k miles. I was planning to take her in last month
but got hit by snow so just letting my car sleep for now. ( i might be
able to take her out for a spin this week. )

so, go by common sense. 10k miles is okay imo for daily driven
cars running synthetic, but too long of a duration for weekend cars
that only get driven maybe 7-8k miles a year. i would replace it
once a year regardless of what the computer says.

 

Thats pretty good advice right there. Oil will degrade over time, so if you don't do 10k miles in a year change the oil atleast yearly.

 

In order to void the warranty, they must prove that something you did caused the issue. So if you don't put the plug back in and run with no oil, there will be a problem...

 

They will do an "oil change only" (meaning thay they don't do the rest of inspection one) at your 1 year anniversary if your miles are under.

 

concur - book says 12 months max interval and dealer covered under pre-pay maint' w/out questions. The wierd thing is like you the 12 months actually was close to the computer interval. I went in per the computer in less than 6 weeks - few miles and they changed it again. Makes sense to have the oil interval accurate to the computer ... but not cost effective to this untrained eye.

 

My first prompted oil service wasn't until 13K miles! But I was on a 10,000-mile roadtrip of mostly highway driving. I did an interim oil change at a MINI dealership while on the road, at about 5K miles. You won't void your warranty if you do earlier oil changes....it's just that MINI Service will only do the scheduled (prompted) oil changes.

 

Thanks for all the responses. This is my first time changing oil with replacable element, all Honda/Acura use disposable which is a waste of resource. Sounds like it's tough to align the elements with the thread during reinstsall. Will the element slide out since it's angled upside down during install?

 

I did both Mini's at 5,000 miles because I'm just too paranoid to leave the oil in there any longer than that. The element is tricky - but I think the only tricky part is GOING SLOW - be gentle with it. Use MINI branded oil filters too to avoid any weird problems too. I didn't have issues with either Mini, though the first one took me about 10 mins to get the filter to align just right and slide in place. Search for "filter" on the forums and you'll find some good articles and tips on change the oil. My first one took me about 30 minutes total, the second one less than that.

What makes the cartridge and element tought to align is that the fit is VERY snug - it has to be just perfect and then it slides right in. I rubbed a very thin coat of oil on the o-ring gasket to help it slide into place, that seems to ehlp and was suggested by several others.

 

Be sure to read this:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght=oil+change

 

Thanks hoopi. Is there anyway on Earth to accidentally ripe the paper element during the first couple of trials? The element looks very flimsy without any brace or suuport in the center.

 

No way! You have to press it HARD into the housing to get it seated. I do mine every 2500-3000 miles and I have 20K miles so I have some experience. Here are some tips I haven't seen written up:

1. Drain the oil kinda hot. It's thinner and more will come out.
2. Remove the filler cap first. It'll allow it to drain faster. (Lets air in easier)
3. Unscrew the housing partially first, then remove the drain plug. That lets the oil drain out of the filter housing better. Makes for less mess when you eventually pull the filter off and out of the car.
4. Clean the filter housing inside and out with carb cleaner and a clean rag. Make it look brand new. Get it really really clean.
5. Lube the O-Ring with fresh oil before you put it on the filter housing.
6. Swipe some oil onto the "boss" in the filter housing. That'll make seating the paper filter element easier. Make sure it is fully seated.
7. Make sure the plastic ring on the filter element is going toward the engine, NOT up in the removable housing.
8. Start the housing back onto the engine by hand. Make sure the thing is going on straight before you try to tighten it up. Pay attention and you can reach around the cannister and feel the O-Ring with your fingers. It should go into the engine evenly all the way around the circumference of the O-Ring. If only one side is trying to go into the engine, back up and start over. Sometimes it goes in on the first try, sometimes it takes 10 minutes. BE PATIENT.
9. Get the right "feel" as you snug it down with a wrench. It should turn smoothly and feel very silky as it tightens up. There will be considerable resistance, but it should be smooth and constant as you tighten it up.
10. When you bottom out the filter housing, just give it a light tug.

The first time made me a little nervous because I'd never changed this type of filter.

Don't worry about crushing the filter. The OEM MINI filters have a plastic internal sleeve. The cheapo aftermarket filters don't. Mailorder the filters from a good MINI dealer (there are several) and they are about the same price as the cheapies from AutoZone.

Rawhyde

PS There'll be a flame war (again) about changing oil too often. Do what you feel is best. I change my oil often. It gives me peace of mind, and I like to tinker with cars anyway.

Here's another tip that's against prevailing wisdom (and the published maintenance schedule) Change the sparkplugs at ~20K miles. I have an 05 MCS/JCW and I did it this past weekend. I kinda thought I was being a little over-agressive until I pulled out the first plug. It was black as soot. Use a dab of anti-seize on the threads and torque them to 30N-m (20 ft-lb in plain English units) I drove my car to work this morning with the fresh plugs and there was a night and day difference in smoothness. Maybe this is unique to 05 JCW cars (they have larger injectors), maybe Cooper S only, maybe throughout the entire model range; in any case, it really made a positive difference in MY car. Besides, the #2 plug wire wasn't fully seated on the plug on my car.

 

I'm at 11K right now and it still says 1250 miles until service.

 

I don't think so. The element is surprisingly sturdy. The one I took out from the factory I played around with a little, and it is surprisingly strong.

 

Replacing spark plugs @ 20k miles is a good thing!
All my previous Hondas got new spark plugs @ 10 to 20k miles, everytime I swapped in new plugs the engine idled smoother and higher. The old plugs looked normal for use, not carboned or fouled. Typically I used NGKs but once I had to settle for Nippondensos and it idled worse than the old NGKs. I considered some 100k mile Bosch plugs ($12 apiece) but thye recommend pulling them every 20k miles and reapplying anti-seize compund, so why not just buy $2 plugs and swap in fresh ones?

I think all car manufacturers are pushing for longer service intervals as selling point. 10k miles for an oil change on synthetic isn't a bad thing but if you change your own oil you know how cruddy oil gets after only a few thousand miles. I'll be the first to praise the superior wear properties of synthetic but one of the reasons we change oil is to get dirty oil out and clean oil in. Even a new motor built to proper tolerances will contaminate it's oil. I think the average car buyer won't keep a car for over 50k miles so for most it's not an issue, but if you're like me and plan to (try to) put 200k miles on your MINI, frequent oil changes are the best thing to spend maintenance dollars on.